Rookie San Jose judge still struggles on the job, sources say

Diane Ritchie campaigned for judge as an experienced hand in 2008, stressing her breadth of experience, including her stint as a prosecutor handling what she called "important cases."

Five years after her upset victory propelled her to the bench, she appears to be parked in a career cul-de-sac, still overseeing minor cases after what seems to have been an unusually difficult transition from lawyer to judge. Despite extensive training and mentoring, her first term has been marked by a string of odd incidents as she seeks to adjust. In one case, Ritchie asked a landlord to serve as a translator for a tenant who was complaining about substandard conditions; in another, she publicly asked a former client appearing before her on petty theft charges for his phone number so they could meet socially.

Few in legal circles dare openly criticize a sitting judge who might hear their cases, but many say privately that Ritchie seems out of her depth and think she may draw a re-election challenger before Wednesday's deadline. No one has run against a sitting judge in Santa Clara County for 15 years -- unlike in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, where sometimes-successful challenges have been mounted.

Ritchie insists she's done a fine job.

"I told voters I would make it so they could get expedient, fair resolutions in their cases, that everyone would be respected and treated with dignity and that I would protect the community," she said in an interview, adding that she has delivered. "I'm going to be on the bench for a long time."

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But in interviews with nearly 100 legal sources over the past five years, including lawyers who have appeared in her court, courthouse staff and fellow judges, she was singled out repeatedly for her struggles to master the job. Local lawyers say lagging performance on California's fifth-largest and otherwise widely respected Superior Court potentially undermines confidence in the handling of even small cases. The court presides over matters ranging from small claims to capital murder.

Ritchie was a deputy district attorney for more than three years, from 1984 through early 1988, but her experience was limited to misdemeanors, juvenile dependency and child support cases. She then ran her own civil law practice and most recently worked as the staff attorney for the California School Employees Association.

Ritchie campaigned as an outsider -- and was the sole woman running -- against three prosecutors and a Superior Court commissioner in the hotly contested 2008 race. She won the $178,789-a-year job handily, even though her opponent in the runoff, then-prosecutor Lane Liroff, was endorsed by the district attorney, sheriff and more than 60 local judges.

The rookie jurist spent her first four years -- far longer than most judges -- handling mostly misdemeanors, minor crimes ranging from shoplifting to drunken driving, before being moved a year ago to civil court.

Two respected jurists have coached Ritchie -- Edward Lee and her official mentor, Erica R. Yew. Ritchie made repeated efforts to grasp the fundamentals, undergoing judicial "boot camp" training for judges twice. She also allowed her performance to be videotaped and critiqued in an effort to improve. Her efforts to learn the ropes were interrupted by a four-month medical leave that sparked rumors she was under stress, which she said was untrue.

Ritchie said she stayed in a misdemeanor assignment by choice, with an eye toward her current assignment handling civil matters, her specialty. She also defended her misdemeanor work, noting she was the impetus behind bringing San Francisco's prostitution diversion program to the local courts. The court's presiding judges said they are prohibited from discussing her performance. And she has her supporters, including judges Socrates Peter Manoukian and Franklin Bondonno.

"Judge Ritchie has done an excellent job and deserves re-election," fellow Judge Derek Woodhouse said. "She is intelligent and has a good judicial temperament."

Yet lawyers who have appeared in her court and some courthouse staff say she has struggled with the basics. After her first three years on the bench, other lawyers gave Ritchie some of the very lowest marks among her peers for knowledge of the law and procedures, according to the county bar association's judicial survey in 2011, the last year the poll was taken.

Some lawyers who appeared before her when she was in Department 51 handling misdemeanors even referred to it as "Area 51," the mysterious Nevada test site that has become synonymous in popular culture for encounters with space aliens.

Like most judges, Ritchie spent her first year in civil court handling mostly small claims, probate and other relatively low-level cases. Her skill as a mediator and employment lawyer has served the public well in settling a large percentage of civil cases quickly, she said. But according to numerous lawyers who have had cases before her, it's notable that presiding judges haven't assigned her any challenging civil or criminal cases since she took office.

In a November incident that critics say showed her lack of judgment, Ritchie strongly suggested that a fellow judge appear before her and defend himself from charges that many lawyers say should never have been taken seriously. She rejected what other judges said they would have done: accept written declarations from accused Judge L. Michael Clark and the two witnesses who cleared him -- his bailiff and a county government attorney.

The charges were from a woman who has filed more than two dozen lawsuits in the county alone against figures including President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. Among her accusations against Clark: that he may belong to the Mafia, had hired a hit man to kill her and told someone to put a tracking device on her car and have her ticketed. After Ritchie urged Clark to defend himself in her courtroom, his accuser asked such questions as: "Are you Justin Bieber?" Even then, Ritchie declared that her ruling in the fellow judge's favor was a "close" call, which some saw as only encouraging a woman known for making absurd accusations that clog up the court. Clark and Ritchie declined to comment, noting it's a pending case because the woman could still appeal.

It was among a number of incidents involving Ritchie in both criminal and civil court that have raised eyebrows.

Even at the end of a four-year stint in the criminal courts, records showed Ritchie's clerks corrected or advised her dozens of times on court procedures, including when to make routine announcements.

In one case, Ritchie let a landlord step in and translate for a Spanish-speaking renter who complained about substandard conditions, prompting a clerk worried about the possibility of bias to take the unusual step of calling another judge, who got the message too late to do anything about it. In the interview, Ritchie didn't deny the incident, but she complained generally that the courts don't provide interpreters in landlord-tenant disputes, which she said are time-sensitive.

She initially slapped a contractor with a stunning $40,070 in fines and fees, and five years' probation for letting his workers' compensation insurance lapse after the economy imploded, a penalty so harsh that even the prosecutor balked. She eventually dropped it to $690 and two years' probation, though she recently defended the initial amount as a "mandatory fee."

Last year, Ritchie asked the court's Employee Assistance Program, a contracted counseling service to help workers cope with problems affecting their job performance, and asked for help organizing the court's St. Patrick's Day party, including picking up food, a request that sparked much discussion within the courthouse for its inappropriate nature. Ritchie said it was not unusual because some EAP programs include concierge service, but the request was denied.

Ritchie's bailiff took the extremely rare step of filing a report about her breach of court security after she demonstrated obvious affection for a man appearing before her on petty theft charges, whom she had once represented in a gay-rights case. Instead of showing the expected judicial detachment, Ritchie welcomed him with open arms, according to a transcript, saying, "It's so, so good to see you. ... How wonderful this is. Just wonderful."

After publicly acknowledging that "it might be that I am too close to Mr. Fuentes," Ritchie suggested the defendant give the bailiff his number so they could meet socially. "If you want me to call you," Ritchie said, "you could give your phone number to my deputy because it would just be really great to see you." She then took a break and invited the defendant into her chambers and, after returning briefly to the courtroom, took him out to lunch, leading him out the back door through the judges' parking lot to her car.

During the interview with this newspaper, Ritchie initially denied that her unorthodox actions posed a possible safety risk and might present the appearance of impropriety, noting that she recused herself from the case that morning during the hearing.

However, she said later through a court spokesman that it wouldn't happen again. The spokesman said the judge now realizes that "appearances are important."